Mediation

With the future of a $9 billion revenue stream at state, NFL owners and players have turned to mediation for help in finding common ground.  Representatives of the two sides met with Mediator George Cohen for 8 hours on March 1 at the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service in Washington, D.C.  After 9 months of infrequent and contentious bargaining sessions, the bargaining teams are now meeting face-to-face in an effort to stave off a player lockout and its dire financial consequences – to players and owners alike. The Collective Bargaining Agreement was scheduled to expire on March 3, but the parties have agreed to extend the agreement to give mediation a chance to work.  High stakes indeed — football fans are holding their collective breath!  For more on the NFL mediation see the full article here.

Stephen Lagoy

Steve Lagoy is a partner in the Pennsylvania law firm of Unruh Turner Burke & Frees, PC with offices in West Chester, Malvern, and Phoenixville, PA. For more information on how Steve Lagoy could assist you as an independent mediator, contact Steve Lagoy in our West Chester office.

By: Stephen Lagoy

In the face of the rising tide of mortgage foreclosures, mediation programs in three Ohio counties are having very positive results.  Foreclosure mediation initiatives in Warren, Greene and Montgomery Counties differ in the processes by which services are provided.  However, they are all court-related and they share a common result – successful foreclosure avoidance.  The programs focus on initiating and facilitating communication between borrowers and lenders.  That factor is pointed to by participants as key to the programs’ successes.  To read more about the Ohio experience, see:

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/mediation-preventing-many-local-foreclosures-1049983.html

Stephen Lagoy

Steve Lagoy is a partner in the Pennsylvania law firm of Unruh Turner Burke & Frees, PC with offices in West Chester, Malvern, and Phoenixville, PA. For more information on how Steve Lagoy could assist you as an independent third party foreclosure mediator, contact Steve Lagoy in our West Chester office.

By: Stephen P. Lagoy

A judge in Bonner County, Idaho has appointed a mediator to attempt to resolve a first-degree murder case.  Unbelievable?  The judge’s action was in response to a joint motion made by the County Prosecutor and the defendant’s attorney.  The mediator will be paid with public funds.  The case involves a theft-related shooting death near Coolin, Idaho in January, 2007. The victim died of a .22-caliber gunshot wound to the face.  The defendant and his former wife fled the region after the shooting and were tracked to Fort Myers Beach, Fla. They were arrested several months after the slaying and were charged with first-degree murder and grand theft by possession of stolen property. The latter offense stemmed from a $56,000 escrow check that belonged to the victim.  The ex-wife has pleaded guilty to second degree murder.  If the mediation is not successful, an eight-day trial is anticipated.

For more information, contact Stephen P. Lagoy.

By: Stephen P. Lagoy

The Texas Rangers own the longest winning streak in the major leagues this year (eleven) and currently have a healthy lead in the American League’s West Division.  Success on the field has not translated to financial bliss, however.  The Rangers’ present ownership filed for Bankruptcy in May to complete a sale of the club to a group headed by Rangers’ president and Hall of Fame pitcher, Nolan Ryan.  Now, the proposed sale has been postponed by Bankruptcy Judge D. Michael Lynn who has ordered the parties to continue mediation to try to resolve opposition to the proposed sale by creditors who lent $525 million to the present ownership.  Given baseball’s July 31 trade deadline, the postponement could impact the Rangers’ ability to acquire players from other teams for an anticipated pennant run. 

For more on the role mediation will play in the Rangers’ bankruptcy, see the article from Bloomsberg Business Week.

For more information contact Stephen P. Lagoy.

By: Stephen P.  Lagoy

The parties to a dispute arising out of an “Embryo Adoption Agreement” have agreed to submit their case to mediation.  The fate of two frozen human embryos hangs in the balance.  Pursuant to the agreement, the donor couple provided four embryos to a reproductive center, two of which were implanted in the uterus of the donee mother in May 2009.  Two babies were born in January 2010.  The donee mother now wants to repeat the process with the remaining two embryos, but the donor couple wants to regain custody of them.  All parties to the dispute are Catholic and regard the embryos as children.  Although lawsuits have been filed in both St. Louis, Missouri and Alameda County, California, the parties hope that a mediator will help them reach an out of court settlement and can resolve the religious, moral and ethical questions their situation presents.  For more on the unusual issues the mediator will have to address, read the St. Louis Globe-Democrat.

For more information, contact Stephen Lagoy.

By: Stephen P. Lagoy

Mediators are called upon in a variety of contexts – business, family, injury, labor to name a few – to help resolve difficult disputes.   The recent death of a 40 year old trainer at SeaWorld has given rise to a unique mediation issue.  The family of Dawn Brancheau obtained an injunction from a Florida court prohibiting the release of video footage of Ms. Brancheau’s death after she was pulled into the water by an orca whale in front of a shocked audience at SeaWorld.  The Florida court has now ordered mediation to weigh the Brancheau family’s privacy concerns against the public’s right to know under Florida law.  For more on the issues the Florida mediator will address, see National News headlines.

If you would like to know more about how mediation can help you resolve business, estate and family disputes while avoiding or minimizing litigation, call mediator Stephen Lagoy.

By: Stephen P. Lagoy

Facing 131 lawsuits filed by alleged victims of clergy sexual abuse, the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington, Delaware filed for bankruptcy in October 2009.  In a breaking development that signals a desire by both sides to resolve the disputes quickly, the Diocese and abuse victims are reported to have agreed to submit the cases to mediation.  Philadelphia lawyer/mediator, Thomas Rutter, has been proposed by the parties to mediate and bankruptcy Judge Christopher S. Sontchi is expected to approve Rutter next week.

For more on the Delaware diocese clergy abuse controversy and how the parties hope to resolve it through mediation see: delwareonline.com article.

If you would like to know more about how mediation can help you resolve business, estate and family disputes while avoiding or minimizing litigation, call mediator Stephen Lagoy.

By: Stephen P. Lagoy

Not surprisingly, the crash of Continental Flight 3407 on its approach to Buffalo, N.Y. on February 12, 2009 has spawned lawsuits by the families of the 45 passengers, four crew members, one off-duty crew member, and one person on the ground, who died in the crash. The lawsuits have been filed against Colgan Air; Pinnacle Airlines; Continental Airlines, the company under whose name Colgan was flying; and Bombardier Aviation Services, maker of the Dash 8 Q400 twin-engine turboprop. Recently, U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny, who recently became the chief federal judge in Buffalo, assigned four local mediators to attempt to resolve the claims of the families of those killed. Mediation has been used extensively in Buffalo’s federal court since October 1995, when 400 lawyers came to the courthouse in hopes of clearing a logjam of 118 civil cases.

For more on the lawsuits the mediators will try to resolve, see http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf

Please contact Stephen P. Lagoy for more information.